Toothbrush



Dec. 2, 1941. E. P. cREssLl-:R E-rAL 2,265,102

' TooTHBRusH Filed May 2i, 1940 Tll. Tl Q Uw LWL/54 Patented Dec. 2, 1941 TOOTHBRUSH Edward P. Cressler, Newton, Kans.; and Helen M. liayne, New York, N. Y.; said liayne assignor to J ohn L. Grove, Newton, Kans.

Application May 2l, 1940 Serial No. 336,318

3 Claims.

This invention relates to toothbrushes and more particularly it comprises an improved brush, with handle carrying a head of sanitary character.

The conventional toothbrush, having a construction of bristles embedded in a head at the end of the handle is relatively costly to manufacture, and the general object of the present invention is to afford a construction of toothbrush of exceedingly cheap manufacturing cost, such indeed that each brush may be discarded after each use. By this improvement the best sanitary conditions are assured since there are obviated the dangers from the lodging or accumulation of decayed particles or disease germs in a brush which is to be used repeatedly, which notoriously has an adverse influence in counteracting somewhat the desired cleansing action. The product hereof is necessarily surgically clean, and may be supplied in individual wrappers to keep it so.

With the usual kinds oi toothbrush hog bristles have been the prevailing ones used, and these tend to become brittle in use; and it is known that fragments of bristle have been the cause of appendicitis, having been found in the appendix after operation; and it is one object hereof to avoid this objection.

The nearest prior construction known to us is the toothbrush disclosed in the patent of Cressler No. 1,725,852, of August 27, 1929; but the article illustrated in said patent does not attain the desired objects to a sufciently desirable extent, especially sin'ce the mode of manufacture and the resulting product are insufficiently low in manufacturing cost to render it practical to sell the article with the expectation of its being discarded `after a single use.

A particular object of the presentv invention therefore is to provide a novel construction of cleaning or toothbrush which will attain the advantages mentioned and overcome the objections to the article of said prior patent. Another object is to provide a construction of toothbrush which tends to disintegrate after a single wetting and use, in other words the head will soften and vbecome objectionable to use, and may loosen' to such extent that the bristles or prongsv will not hold their position. Thereby repeated unsanitary use of the brush is guarded against.

Another object is to afford a single-use toothbrush which resembles the conventional article, feels like it on the teeth, is equally efllcient or more so, and is free from the objection of breaking of bristles or their coming out of place.

An advantage of the present brush is that lt may be marketed with a suitable amount of cleansing material or powder applied between its bristles or in a recess, so that a traveler or hotel guest can be accommodated to his maximum convenience.

Further objects and advantages ofthe present improvement will be explained in the hereinafter following description of certain illustrative embodiments thereof or will be manifest to those conversant with the subject. To the attainment oi such objects and-advantages the present invention consists in the novel cleaning brush. the novel structural features thereof ,.and its method of manufacture, and the principles thereof, herein illustrated or described.

In the accompanying drawing are shown, more l or less dlagrammatically, and with some exaggeration of dimensions, not only the cleaning brush or product, but the steps constituting the preferred method of manufacture thereof. Thus Fig. 1 indicates the character oi the structural material, in the first step of production, showing a continuous strip of the combination of bristle or prong material and head material, broken lines indicating how this continuous material may be formed or severed into small or separate units.

Fig. 2, on a larger scale, shows in perspective a bristled unit, that is. an individual brush component comprising a portion of the head material combined witha portion of the bristle material.

Fig. 3 is a similar perspective view showing how a considerable number of the bristle units may be combined into a bristled or pronged group to be embodied in the final product or brush.

Fig. 4 is. a side elevation view, with exaggeration of relative longitudinal dimensions, showing the preferred make-up of the product or brush from a series of bristled groups such as that shown in Fig. 3 alternated with a series of non-bristled or unpronged groups, separators or fillers, composed of the head material; for example there may be ten bristled groups separated by' nine filler groups in the complete assemblage.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation view of the complete assemblage indicated in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing a later stage, wherein the bristle or prong portions have been cut into the shape of prongs or pointed bristles, while the head portion has been bored to receive a handle; although these steps could be previously performed, on the separate groups, as shown dotted in Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation view on a smaller scale, corresponding to the scale of Fig. 1, show,- ing the completed assemblage of head with bristles and handle, constituting an illustrative product embodying the invention.

Fig. 8, in side elevation view, shows a modified construction of brlstied unit differing from that of Fig. 2.

Fig. 9, in similar view, shows another modification of the unit of Fig. 2, with several such units assembled.

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 refer to a modification in the mode of manufacture, Fig. being a top view of a continuous strip such as that of Fig. 1 disposed or bent to form a head with bristles, without severing; Fig. l1 indicating the same with the interconnected units pressed into final contacting position; while Fig. l2, in a view similar to Fig. 1, shows a continuous strip modified for use according to Figs. 10 and 11, to provide alternated bristled and non-bristled groups.

Fig. 13 shows in ltop view a modified construc I tion with principles of uniting the assembly which may be applied to any of the other disclosures.

The present improvement as a product may be generally described as consisting of a cleaning brush which consists of a laminated structure of combined head portion and prong portion, with preferably a handle; the prong portion consisting of a water-resistant plastic sheet material of sufilciently stiff resilience for brushing purposes. such as Pliofilm. Cellophane or Nylon; the head portion consisting of .a built-up assembly of units of suitable sheet material secured together to constitute the head of the brush', and the prong portion being interconnected with and held by the head portion and being cut or shaped into upstanding prongs of the plastic sheet material. The head material-might be the same as the prong or bristle material, but preferably is of water absorbent sheet material such as paper or fabric of sufficient initial stiffness to which, in the process of manufacture, the prong material is secured before the materials are assembled into portion provides a series of Iclosely positioned groups of upstanding prongs with separations or fillerspbetween groups for greater emciency in the brushing action. l

The further characteristics of said product and the preferred method of manufacturing the same are illustrated in the accompanying drawing. the disclosures of which are described as follows.

A cheap mode of manufacture may commence by the formation of acontinuous strip of the bristle or prong material 2| and the head material 22. These are shown as slightly overlapping at 23 where they may be interconnected by adhesive, or in the case of Plioiilm and other materials by merely pressing under heat.

, The prong material or4 strip 2i may be composed of any plastic sheet material which is resilient but sufficiently stifl for cleaning purposes and is water-resistant. Pliofilm, a typical example, is disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,989,632 among others, and this is suitable for the prongs or bristles,-being stiff enough', especially in groups, to serve the function of toothbrush bristles, and not softening when wetted. The

lcharacter of this material should be 'heavy enough for the purpose, and the more of the prongs in a group the less heavy the material needs to be.

The head strip 22 is also composed of sheet materiaLfIt might be of the same material as the prong strip 2|, but for cheapness and other reasons it is preferably a water-absorbent material auch as paper, initially stiff but adapted on thorasientos ough wetting to disintegrate. This paper may be of similar thickness to the bristle material, being shown in Fig. 2 as of twice the thickness.

A preferred material for the head strip 22 is a soft or limp paper or thin fabric which is initially stifiened by starch or similar stifiening agent, so that the brush as a whole is initially stiff but tends to soften and disintegrate within a. period of a few minutes after wetting, thus preventing unsanitary reuse of the brush. The head is thus initially stable and rigid. but being water receptive goes to pieces with the first use.

In one form of brush the composite strip 20 is' cut into short sections or units 2E, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and shown separately in Fig. 2; alth'ough as will be explained in connection with Figs. 10 to 12 a similar product can be pro= duced by bending or folding instead of cutting. As shown in Fig. 3 the next step is the gathering together of a number of the pronged units 26 to form a group 21, for example there may be fifteen units to the group. The upper or prong portion the product or brush. Preferably also the prong f of this group may next be cut into the form of prongs 29, two or three in number, indicated only in dotted lines in Fig. 3, but shown in ilnal form in Fig. 6. A handle receiving hole 30 may be produced in the head portion of each group as also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and in full lines in Fig. 6. In each of the pronged groups 2l the head units 22 may be attached to each other by paste or other adhesive, or may be circumferentially bound as will be furthed described.

Fig. 4 shows with longitudinal exaggeration of dimension the preferred mode of building up the laminated structure of head and prongs. Each group 21 is shown as comprising fifteen pronged units, although there might be more or less. In order to avoid a continuous structure of bristles the pronged groups 2lare separated by spacing or filling means, such as a number of unpronged units 3i composed oi.'- the material or paper 22 and assembled into a group 32. A satisfactory brush can be built up by alternating ten of the prong unit groups with nine of thegunpronged unit groups. The head 34 of the brush is composed of all of the paper units, with or without prongs, and at the designated points are groups 3B of upstanding prongs. When allowance is made for the exaggerated dimensions, th'e proportions become suitable for the conventional size of toothbrush head.

A toothbrush made up as so far described is represented in end view by Fig. 5, while Fig. 6 shows the same view after the material 2i has been cui; into prongs 29 and a handle hole 30 has been formed, which may be done at this stage, or previously as suggested in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 shows ah'andle 31 inserted in the handle hole 3D, thus completing the toothbrush, it being understood that the pronged head may be removed and discarded and a fresh one applied to the same handle for new use.

By the system thus described it is feasible to include and sell a portion of tooth powder embodied in each brush. It might be placed loosely in the handle hole 30, for example in the form of a round bar, turning into a powder when placed upon the tongue; or several small bars 3g of tooth powder may be placed between the prong groups 35 as indicated on Fig. '1.

cessive pressure the thickening can be obvated anda better final product afforded in the manner shown in Fig. 9. Another way of combining the componentstrips is as shown in Fig. 8, where a Wide paper strip 4l is refolded, with one edge overlapping the other, forming a natural recess in which the plastic strip is received. In all embodiments the entire series of head units, of paper, cloth or other material, are to be attached by adhesive or equivalently under pressure so that the brush head as a whole is rigid. The same result may be obtained bya circumferential band I 'as shown in Fig. 13. While the head is a rigid laminated body, the upstanding prongs are free or bendable, and preferably pointed, and beingV in small groups are well adapted for thorough cleansing purposes, better than an arrangement without gaps.

Referring to the modification of Figs. 10 to l2, instead of producing separate pronged units 25 as indicated in Fig. 2, the dotted lines in Fig. 1

. may represent folds or creases, and the continuous material may be folded back and forth, in zigzag manner, as indicated by'rthe zigzag strip 43 in Fig. 10. Each pronged unit 44 or unpronged unit 45 may be made in this manner, being bent and then compressed as indicated in Fig. 11. Instead of making the two kinds of groups separately and'assembling them, the entire series of pronged and unpronged groups may be made.-

from a single continuous strip, formed in the manner shown in Fig. 12, the plastic strip portion 2| being formed with alternate lengths having tongues and havingmo tongues; so that when bent, folded and compressed as in Figs. 10 and 11 n the product will be afforded substantially like that The handle hole 30 may be a cylindrical bore carried through from end to end, as shown in Figs. 7 and 13. It may contain powder and be plugged. On emptyingit the handle may be applied at either end.

A modification of brush structure Within the principles of the invention comprises a series of pronged groups alternated with fillers or unpronged groups to produce gaps; each pronged group constituted of a single piece of sheet strip wound spirally and flattened by compression and then cut to form the prongs; each ller being preferably a similar flat spiral of either the same or different sheet material; for example the entirety being made from sheet plastic which under heat and longitudinal can consolidate into a unitary brush head with upstanding prongs or tongues serving as bristles.

The cutting of the prongs or tongues 29 and the handle hole 30 may be done at any convenient stage; for example in the original strip 21-22 as shown in Fig. 12, or in severed units 25 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, or in pronged groups 21 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, or in the completely assembled head as shown in Fig. 6.

Having thus described a -cleaning brush eming prongs composed of a water-repellant sheet material of resilient stiffness to serve as bristles, such -tongues being anchored in the head by intercohnection with the two different sheet material components.

2. A toothbrush as-in claim 1 and wherein the laminated sheet material comprised in the head is a normally limp material or paper rendered initially stiff by a water-vulnerable adhesive or starch that assists rigidifying the head before wetting.

3.V A toothbrush head having a body portion in. cluding a material of water-absorptive character adapted quickly to disintegrate upon saturation with water when put in use, said body portion being provided with spaced groups of upstanding prongs formed of a Water-repellant 'sheet material of such resilient stiffness 'as t9 serve as bristles, with the water-repellant material of the prongs extending'down into the body of thehead and there anchored and held -by thedisintegrable body material until released by wetting and disintegration of the body.

. EDWARD P. cREssLER.

HELEN M. HAYNE. 

